Gilmon D. Brooks holds the Congressional Gold Medal he was awarded in June along with some 400 African-Americans who were among the first blacks to serve in the Marine Corps in the 1940s.

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As young men, they were more intent on surviving boot camp and the war than they were on making history as the first blacks in the U.S. Marine Corps.

But for four pioneering marines from Monmouth County, this Veterans Day brought the added satisfaction of knowing their country has not forgotten their groundbreaking service.

Earlier this year, Gilmon D. Brooks of Tinton Falls, Max Daniels of Lake Como, and Frederick T. Goode and Henry Warren, both of Neptune, were among some 400 surviving "Montford Point Marines" to receive the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in Washington. ...